2021-22 UCSD/VA PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM Department of Psychiatry University of California, San Diego VA San Diego Healthcare System Co-Directors Sandra Brown, Ph.D., ABPP Amy Jak, Ph.D. Applicant Manual Last updated September 2020 Dear Prospective Applicant, Thank you for your interest in the UCSD/VA Psychology Internship Training Program. In the following pages, you will find detailed information about our internship, including clinical training, didactic experiences, research opportunities, our faculty, and application instructions. Our program is based on the scientist-practitioner model. As such, we seek competitive applicants interested and experienced in both research and clinical practice, particularly those interested in academic careers. Clinical training and didactic experiences integrate cutting-edge evidence-based techniques with a foundation of established empirically-supported treatments and assessment. We also recognize the importance of diversity represented by our trainees and faculty, as well as in our patients. We encourage those of diverse backgrounds, in all the many ways that diversity is defined, to apply to our program. Our full-time internship has been accredited by APA since 1986 (Further information about accreditation of this program can be found at: Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-4242, Phone: (202) 336-5979, Fax: (202) 336-5978, Email: [email protected], Web: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation). For the 2021-2022 year, interns will earn an annual stipend of $29,212. Our competitive benefits, both for UCSD and for the VA, include health insurance, paid leave days, and paid holidays. The COVID-19 pandemic has led our faculty to implement multiple changes in our training program. It is, of course, difficult to predict when a return to “usual” will occur. As such, please note that the following changes will be in effect until the pandemic resolves. Eligibility requirements: Our faculty understand that trainees may have had disruptions to their practicum experiences during COVID. We intend to review applications with this in mind and appreciate that current candidates may have fewer clinical hours or different clinical experiences than may be typical in a non-pandemic application cycle. As always, however, we will review applications with a “goodness of fit” lens rather than adhere strictly to number of clinical hours accrued by each applicant. Recruitment: Recruitment for the class of 2021-22 will be strictly virtual. Our faculty will create virtual overviews for each cluster of rotations, i.e., trauma, addictions, specialty mental health, behavioral medicine, neuropsychology and child as well as a virtual overview of the program, in general. Faculty will schedule individual zoom interviews with selected applicants during interview week (January 7-13). Current interns will also be available during interview week for zoom meetings. Supervision and didactics: If safety precautions necessitated by the pandemic persist until/beyond July 2021, individual and group supervision will continue to be provided remotely. Similarly, all didactics will be offered via remote platforms (e.g., Zoom or WebEx) for all rotations at all sites. Assessment: If safety precautions necessitated by the pandemic persist until/beyond July 2021, psychological testing can be offered via remote technology combined with some face-to-face testing, utilizing safety protocols implemented by UCSD and the VA. Individual/group therapy: If safety precautions necessitated by the pandemic persist until/beyond July 2021, outpatient individual and group psychotherapy can be provided remotely via HIPPA-compliant web platforms, largely from the interns’ living space. Interns who do not have living spaces conducive to the remote provision of therapy will, with approval from the Council of Training Directors, be authorized to utilize an office on-site to provide remote intervention. Inpatient individual and group psychotherapy may be able to be provided in a similar matter as described above for outpatient services. In cases where remote service delivery is not possible or practical for inpatients, face-to-face therapy can be conducted, utilizing safety protocols implemented by UCSD and the VA. Decisions about any on site/face-to- face work will also take into account individual trainee situations and needs. Safety protocols: The VA, UCSD, and Rady Children’s Hospital have implemented strict infection control protocols that all employees, including trainees, are required to follow while on-site. Protocols include the use of PPE (mask and shield), the use of gloves and shoe covers in certain circumstances, plexiglass shields, also under certain circumstances, as well as a daily assessment of health and fitness to work. Safety protocols will be enforced until such time as each institution judges the COVID infection risk to have been eliminated. Other yearly requirements, such flu vaccines, will continue to be enforced. In accordance with regulations established by the federal government, certain criteria have to be met by applicants who are interested in applying to those Positions within our internship that are exclusively housed within the VA. Please see Section 2 for a list of the all-VA Positions. The criteria for applicants are as follows: 1. U.S. citizenship. The VA is unable to consider applications from anyone who is not currently a U.S. citizen. Verification of citizenship is required following selection. All interns must complete a Certification of Citizenship in the United States prior to the start of training within the VA. 2. U.S. citizens who are completing APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral programs are eligible for appointment for VA Psychology Doctoral Internships. 3. Male applicants born after 12/31/1959 must have registered for the draft by age 26 to be eligible for any US government employment, including selection as a paid VA trainee. Male applicants must sign a pre-appointment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration before they can be processed into a training program. Exceptions can be granted only by the US Office of Personnel Management; exceptions are very rarely granted. Male, for this purpose, is any individual born male on their birth certificate regardless of current gender. 4. Interns are subject to fingerprinting and background checks. Match result and selection decisions are contingent on passing these screens. 5. The VA conducts drug screening exams on randomly selected personnel as well as new employees. Interns are not required to be tested prior to beginning work, but once on staff they are subject to random selection for testing as are other employees. 6. To comply with federal and VA rules and provide interns with liability protection, a current and valid Affiliation Agreement between the VA and the sponsoring doctoral program must be on file before an intern can be appointed. While most APA-accredited doctoral programs already have an agreement on file, it is important that you confirm with your doctoral program, before application, that a valid affiliation agreement has been established. More information is available at: http://www.va.gov/oaa/agreements.asp (see section on psychology internships). 7. A Trainee Qualifications and Credential Verification Letter (TQCVL) from the intern’s home institution is also required. More information on the specific requirements within the TQCVL can be found at: https://www.va.gov/oaa/TQCVL.asp Those applicants applying for Positions housed exclusively within UCSD must also meet employment criteria. Please see Section 2 for a list of all-UCSD Positions. Those criteria are: 1. Interns are subject to fingerprinting and background checks and drug screening exams. Individuals with convictions related to job duties are at particular risk of not passing the background check. Individuals with a positive drug screen will undergo further review by the Medical Review Office. Match result and selection decisions are contingent on passing these screens. 2. Interns must pass a physical exam and show proof of TB testing. Positive TB tests undergo further review by the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine to determine the course of action. Each of our 19 Positions is comprised of two half-time, year-long placements. Inside our brochure, you will find a list of these 19 Positions and the placements associated with them, as well as detailed descriptions of each placement and the supervising faculty. Please note that 12 Positions are all-VA, i.e., each half of the position is in a clinic located with the VA and falls under VA hiring/HR, and 7 positions are all-UCSD, i.e., each half of the position is in a clinic located within UCSD and falls under UCSD hiring/HR. Placement combinations are fixed and cannot be changed from what is listed here. While you do not have to have extensive experience in both placements of the Position(s) you rank, we do value goodness-of-fit with at least one of the placements within a given Position when selecting applicants for interviews. All applications must be submitted via the APPIC portal. While the portal permits applicants to choose Positions of interest, please clearly indicate in your cover letter no more than three Positions for which you would like to be considered. POSITIONS FOR THE 2021-2022 TRAINING YEAR For the 2021-2022 training year we have funding for 19 full-time Internship Positions. Each Position is comprised of two (or in limited cases three) year-long placements in which the intern will gain his/her training experience. Each of the 19 Positions has a separate APPIC match number. When an applicant matches to the UCSD/VA Psychology Internship, he/she will match into a specific Position, and therefore into a fixed combination of year-long placements for the upcoming training year. The placements in each Position are fixed for the training year and cannot be changed or substituted with another placement. The placement combinations for each of the 19 Positions for the 2021-2022 training year are listed in the table below.